Kronos (1957)

From the video case: Scientists at a “Top Secret” Atomic Research Laboratory are taken over by strange fantastic control devices launched from an orbiting space ship inhabited by a hostile super-intelligence from beyond the stars.

Simultaneously, a gigantic flying saucer crashes in the Gulf of Mexico and Kronos, a giant metallic monolith monster emerges. Unstoppable, it it slashes across the countryside, draining the earth of all its electrical energy and beaming it into space. Kronos, a weapon so perfect in design it absorbs a direct hit by a Hydrogen bomb and becomes that much more powerful! (1957, b&w)

Mark says: Kronos is a giant metallic energy vampire (see image above) that drains Earth of its energy supplies to transport it back to its own voltage-starved planet. Though on the cheesy side, Kronos is definitely ahead of its time in terms of its message regarding energy conservation.

Kronos boasts some of the most well-known stars of 50s B-movie history:

Jeff Morrow (This Island Earth, The Giant Claw) is Dr. Leslie Gaskell, a cranky and not entirely likable scientist who really needs to pay more attention to his girlfriend, Vera (Barbara Lawrence).

John Emery (Rocketship X-M) plays Dr. Hubbell Eliot, a man possessed by the alien life-force, and used to locate stockpiles of atomic energy. Dr. Eliot, in one of his lucid moments, warns that Earth will eventually burn up its own energy sources if we “continue at our current rate.”

The special effects range from adequate to downright ludicrous. The sequences where Kronos appears to be a cartoon tromping across the landscape are particularly laughable. I also like how Kronos’ absorption of atomic energy is illustrated by simply showing an H-bomb explosion in reverse. Great stuff.

I would be remiss not to mention all the wonderful techno-babble this movie throws at us. For example, the huge computer used in the lab is a “Synchro Unifying Sinometric Integrating Equitensor”, or SUSIE for short. And when Dr. Gaskell explains the solution for disabling Kronos we are left befuddled and scratching our heads. We’ll just have to take his word for it.

Overall, Kronos is a thoroughly enjoyable film with great characters and an interesting (and timely!) plot. That’s not even taking into account all of the beautiful B-movie charm this picture possesses.